Daily TIP

The Daily TIP: Netanyahu: Iran Lied about Its Nuclear Weapons Program and Plans to Restart it

Posted by Tip Staff - April 30, 2018

Netanyahu: Iran Lied about Its Nuclear Weapons Program and Plans to Restart itReport: Saudi Crown Prince Said that PA Should Negotiate or “Shut Up and Stop Complaining”Paraguay's President Announces Plans to Move Embassy to JerusalemNonprofit Seeks to Bring Jewish, Youth Together for Jerusalem Soccer Competition

Netanyahu: Iran Lied about Its Nuclear Weapons Program and Plans to Restart it

Israel had broken into a top-secret Iranian installation and recovered thousands of documents showing that Iran had "brazenly lied" and remains committed to a clandestine nuclear weapons program despite the 2015 nuclear deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference Monday.

Hailing the recovery of Iran's "atomic archive" as one of Israeli intelligence's "greatest achievements," Netanyahu said that the 100,000 files showed that when Iranian leaders claimed that they never sought a nuclear weapons, they "lied. Big time," The Times of Israel reported.

The nuclear project that Iran pursued was called Project Amad and began in the early 1990s. It had a goal to "“design, produce and test… five warheads, each with a 10 kiloton TNT yield, for integration on a missile.”

The files, Netanyahu said, demonstrated four things about Iran's nuclear weapons program. Iran lied about having a nuclear weapons program, it continued to expand its knowledge of nuclear weapons work after the deal, it failed to come clean about its past work in 2015, and the deal is based on lies.

Following Netanyahu's press conference, The Israel Project hosted a conference call with Emily Landau. During the call Landau explained that if Iran had chosen to come clean about its nuclear program it would have made its nuclear research available for independent review instead of keeping it under lock and key.

Moreover, according to Landau Netanyahu's press conference was valuable for contradicting Iran's "narrative of nuclear innocence."

Report: Saudi Crown Prince Said that PA Should Negotiate or “Shut Up and Stop Complaining”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman lashed out at the Palestinian leadership for rejecting opportunities for peace with Israel for decades during a meeting with Jewish leaders in New York last month. The Saudi royal said Palestinian leaders should either accept peace proposals offered by the United States or “shut up.”

Bin Salman noted that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was not a top priority for the Saudi government, which is more focused on Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East, The Times of Israel reported.

"For the past 40 years, the Palestinian leadership has missed opportunities again and again, and rejected all the offers it was given. It’s about time that the Palestinians accept the offers, and agree to come to the negotiating table — or they should shut up and stop complaining,” the Crown Prince said according to a report from Israel’s Channel 10.

Bin Salman's comments reportedly surprised Jewish leaders present at the meeting, with a source saying people "literally fell off their chairs."

The meeting with Jewish leaders took place behind closed doors on March 27, during the prince’s extensive visit to the US. The Saudi Embassy confirmed that bin Salman met with leaders of Reform, Conservative and Orthodox Judaism.

A few days after the meeting, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg sat down for an interview with bin Salman, in which the Saudi royal recognized Israel’s right to exist. “I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land,” he stated.

Paraguay's President Announces Plans to Move Embassy to Jerusalem

Paraguay's President Horacio Cartes announced on Friday his plan to move the country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, The Jerusalem Postreported Sunday.

The President made the announcement at a special celebratory event in Asunción to mark Israel’s 70th anniversary. Cartes didn't specify the exact date for the embassy's relocation, but pledged it would happen by the end of the government's term, when he leaves office in mid-August.

It is not unclear if Cartes consulted with President-elect Hugo Velázquez before announcing the move.

Paraguay had already indicated in March that it would relocate its embassy if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to visit the country. During the first visit of a sitting Israeli Prime Minister to Latin America in September, Netanyahu didn’t stop in Paraguay.

Cartes has been supportive of Israel since he was elected president of Paraguay in 2013. During that time, Paraguay has voted in support of Israel in the United Nations. When Cartes visited Israel in 2016, Netanyahu praised him for supporting Israel "in difficult circumstances."

The announcement comes just weeks before the United States is set to open its new embassy in Jerusalem on May 14. On Friday, Trump said that he may come to Israel for that event.

Guatemala is the only other country with concrete plans to move its embassy. A few other countries, however, have announced similar steps, including Czech Republic, Romania, and Honduras.

This summer, as the FIFA World Cup is underway in Russia, the historic gates of Jerusalem’s Old City will transform into a goalpost as Jews and Arabs join together for a special soccer event.

The gathering is set to bring some 200 young players from the eastern and western sides of Jerusalem to compete in a penalty shootout against world-famous goalies, the event organizers say.

“Everyone loves soccer no matter who they are or where they’re from. In a lot of senses, it epitomizes the vision that culture has an important role in bringing people together,” said Zaki Djemal, one of the founders of Kulna Yerushalayim (We Are All Jerusalem), the nonprofit organization hosting the event. “There’s a lot of culture that we all share and have in common. Instead of celebrating that culture separately, we can do it together.”

The event, to take place during the World Cup’s semi-final games on July 10-11, will include live music, sports legends and screenings of the matches on the ancient walls surrounding the Old City in addition to the penalty-kick competition.

The gathering is set to bring some 200 young players from the eastern and western sides of Jerusalem to compete in a penalty shootout against world-famous goalies, the event organizers say.

In order to generate excitement, the organization is aiming to bring famous goalies from some of the world’s best teams to participate alongside the Jewish and Arab youth.